Knicks' interior defense also shined in win over the Pistons

Knicks' center Tyson Chandler was one of a handful of big men who dominated the interior against the Pistons Marc Serota/GETTY

The Knicks' three-point shooting was the main storyline in their sleepy win over the Pistons in today's matinee affair, but the defensive presence of their bigs shouldn't go unnoticed either.

Following a two-game slide that exposed the Knicks' undersized interior, they seemingly got back on track with a solid performance from their frontcourt. The expert outside shooting, that included 17 threes and seven different players knocking down a 3, overshadowed the way the Knicks played solid post defense, but the interior was just as astute as the exterior.

Center Tyson Chandler did a solid job in defending the Pistons' franchise player, Greg Monroe, as the former first-round pick only had 12 points and five rebounds. Monroe came into the game averaging 17.2 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. Chandler, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, took the brunt of the blame for the Rockets' easy points in the paint on Friday, but rectified that by not allowing the Pistons to dominate the interior.

Not even Detroit's rugged 6-foot-8, 265 pound power forward Jason Maxiell (four points and four rebounds) could take advantage of the Knicks' 6-foot-7 small forward Carmelo Anthony in the post. And the same went for rookie center Andre Drummond, the Pistons' first-round pick out of Connecticut, who had 11 rebounds. But while that was a game high, he was never really an impact player in the game and was mostly invisible elsewhere, scoring just two points on 1-of-6 shooting.

New York entered Sunday's game ranked second in average points in the paint and 11th in total points-in-the-paint efficiency. The Knicks are also seventh in the league in points outside the paint, which shows they have the perfect balance for success.

And judging by Sunday's performance of deep 3s and easy forays to the tin, those numbers should steadily increase.